Follow me on Twitter

Bloggers Bash Fan

S.M.A.G. Kindness Among Bloggers

For Early Childhood Educators

April 16, 2014 prompt: In 99 words (no more, no less) write a biography for a character, alter-ego or you.

Christmas Present by Paula Moyer

Few births have been celebrated as much as my father’s. You won’t understand anything about him if you just know that he was the second of three boys, born on Christmas Day.

He was the second, all right – but 10 years passed between his brother’s birth and his own. Ten years of pregnancy losses and at least one stillbirth, until, at long last, my paternal grandmother carried this fat baby boy to term.

He was the first baby born in Oklahoma City after midnight on Christmas Day, 1922 – the newspaper’s official Christmas Baby. Born alive, longed for, and loved.

###

Flash Fiction by Caroline L.

He is made of Thursdays and women.

He is born on a Thursday night, unnoticed by any but the woman who pushes him from her womb to less-welcoming flannel sheets.

He is married on a Thursday afternoon, unnoticed by any but the woman who stands by his side in a second-hand dress as the judge mispronounces her name.
He is killed on a Thursday morning, unnoticed by any but the woman who hits the brakes too early and too hard for such a slick street.

Those women — ah, those women! — they are the stories. He is but their Thursdays.

###

Flash Fiction by Susan Budig

Becky Erdmann could count the number of times she’d been kissed on one hand with fingers and thumb balled into a fist. Aunt Tressie’s fishy smooches didn’t count. Uncle Odie’s unrequited attempts only added to her pining. Why couldn’t Sören chase her like that? But Becky, number four of seven with another pending, couldn’t fault her sweet Swede. After all, he did ask her to the church picnic. And he did spend recess with her reading Whitman even when Norb and Harold teased him about being a sissy. Now, if she could just convince him to hold her hand…

###

Falling Up by Sarah Brentyn

Josephine hates her name. She loves her twin sister, scotch, and Janis Joplin. Her favorite thing to do is squeeze the fun out of each day and drink it down like lemonade. Also, daydream about pushing her abusive mother into a pit of stampeding elephants. She is courageous to the point of stupidity, finds the positive in every situation, and has a talent for guessing which color bruises will turn. Josephine has never been married, has no children and likes it that way. She skips between jobs. Dances between boyfriends. Laughs too much. Stumbles sometimes but always falls up.

Winning the TV quiz show, Family Challenge, assured me a rosy future. My encyclopaedic knowledge would fuel my teaching career. I hadn’t bargained for a pregnancy midway through the training. When I surrendered my baby for adoption, I lost my sense of purpose too.

Can’t complain, though. I work in a school, albeit in admin. I’m extremely popular on quiz nights down the pub. But, if people ask if I have children, I don’t know what to say.

Everything’s changing again, as Jason has made contact. Given he’s about to become a father, can I call myself Grandma now?

Stooped and bowed, by both time and hard living, his florid, round
face and rude countenance throw up barriers he wishes were not there
but like a caged animal, knows little else.

Once a traveller, now he only journeys between pub and house – no
longer much of a home since Helen left, except for the loyal, mangy
Skip who barks at every passerby – claiming Seth as his pack.

But he loves that dog and ruffles his coat roughly in greeting. Might
be the only time you’ll see him smile but you’ll get a glimpse of a
once warm man.

###

Query by Pete

Frankie Criswell isn’t a star basketball player. He’s a writer, a humanitarian, a big brother, reporter, and even a star-gazing romantic. But entering the seventh grade, all of this is news to him.

After getting cut from the basketball team, he’s approached by Maggie Chalmers, the quick-witted school newspaper journalist who convinces him to take a job as a sports writer. Intrigued by her quirky humour, Frankie writes an essay that gains nationwide recognition. One he has to read, out loud, which means stepping out of his the safety of his shell and facing all of his biggest fears.

He served as a chaperon for his parents when the country was facing a partition. His six feet frame with broad shoulders was strong to carry the load of his six siblings and help them settle with their choice of career while financing their marriages. Then finally, he thought of himself.

He kept juggling between his responsibilities and his priorities while keeping his opportunities on the sidetrack so that he could be a good son, brother, husband and a father.

That was my dad, as he wore many characteristic hats in his lifetime, and I am proud of him.

Mara was born in squalor. Traded for 50 bucks and a case of whiskey, she spent her childhood being used in ways best forgotten. A girl of shadows and whispers, no one knew of the strange things that happened on nights with a full moon. Rescued and recovered, Mara holds hope and fear with the same disdain. She loves fiercely, is loyal to a fault, and when no one is looking, smiles at babies and sunsets. She is wise woman, crone, rebel, romantic. She can flay with a look and strike like serpent. She will not suffer fools gladly.

*******
Stuart is all elbows and knees. Equal parts rogue and romantic, he has a way of making people comfortable with his discomfort. His laugh is hard to resist and it’s easy to forget the sadness he’s seen. Few knew of the men who died in his arms as he’d tried to carry them from the battlefield. Fewer still knew that he’d signed up for the war as penance for living a life that would never end. He loves beer and a good joke and in the end, wants nothing more than to be a decent man, worthy of love.

17 Comments

Hi Charli, you have certainly rounded them up and brought them in this time! Twelve pieces, all quite different and each with its own flavour. I do like it when the pieces link back to an individual’s blog but understand that not all contributors have a blog, and some may feel that their flash piece doesn’t fit their ‘brand’. I will leave a comment on each piece here, as well as on the blogs that have been linked. Let me know if you think this is too much, and I will resist the urge in future.
I love Paula’s story. It’s a nice one to lead with. After all the heartache, what a wonderful Christmas gift; a gift that goes on giving.
Caroline’s story of Thursdays and women is intriguing and so sad. i wonder why his was death was not noticed by anyone other than the woman who hit the brakes. Was no one left to mourn his passing?
And poor Becky in Susan’s story – her turn will come.
Sarah’s ‘Falling up’ is such a positive, heart-warming portrayal. I love the humour that dances through the words.
Anne’s sad story conveys the sense of loss and insecurity that has never eased.
Seth, by Lisa, reminds me of so many I know whose world has retreated as much by their own doing as by circumstances beyond their control.
Through Frankie Criswell, Pete shows how a seemingly insignificant event can have an enormous impact on one’s life.
I’m sure Ruchira’s dad would be proud of her too. Such was the lot of many of that generation – to shoulder imposed family obligations – they did it selflessly and without complaint; though not necessarily without regrets or other yearnings.
The character bios by Georgia paint vivid images of those who have suffered, but also provides a glimmer of hope for their salvation.
And then there’s yours, upon which I think I have already commented.
A great muster I think!

Norah, it’s wonderful that you are so willing to be engaged with the commenting, as well! I think it helps us all to give and receive feedback. Literature is something both written and read. Not everyone is a blogger, and as you pointed out, not all bloggers feel that flash fits their brand. I know that my own site here at Carrot Ranch feels messy to me because originally it was to house my business writing, but now I’m building my fiction platform. But it’s in the midst of a mess that I often gain insight! Thank you so much for taking time to comment! I hope this continues to build with a sense of community for writers and readers.

I also post each individual response on my Carrot Ranch Facebook page. While it is not a well-known page, yet, I do make individual comments to each writer’s post. My goal is to find more readers for that page. You are all free to follow and comment there, too: https://www.facebook.com/CarrotRanchCommunications.

I was wanting just an author page, not a personal page. Trouble is I signed up briefly (one night) years ago and I can’t seem to have an author page without it. Well, that is, I haven’t figured it out yet!

Thanks, Charli, for the prompt and bringing these altogether here, and Norah for the excellent mini reviews. Sylvestermouse, will you take the plunge in join in next time? A few of us here were first timers but I imagine it getting quite addictive

[…] is that? One of our flash fiction writer’s from last week’s compilation, Biographies Real and Imagined, reflected on the 99-word constraint of Carrot Ranch Flash Fiction. Anne Goodwin wrote that […]

Fabulous read, Anne! How moving, life-altering, uplifting and shattering 40 words can be. When I got to Ann Hood’s I cried because I’ve heard her speak live about how and why she got into knitting. She’s a marvelous storyteller, brave and beautiful knitting words and yarn into her truth.